The television documentary broadcast on Saturday night did not solve the apparent puzzle as to where Christopher Columbus was born, one of the theories being that he was from Mallorca and not from Genoa.
The documentary, Columbus DNA: The True Origin, was the culmination of over 20 years of research. It points to Columbus having been a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe.
Researchers led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente tested tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, long marked by authorities there as the last resting place of Columbus. These were compared with samples of known relatives and descendants. "We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient. We have DNA from Hernando Colón, his son. Both in the Y chromosome (male) and in the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted by the mother) of Hernando there are traits compatible with Jewish origin."
The Sephardic Jew theory is nothing new. For instance, a 2009 book by Estelle Irizarry, emeritus professor of Spanish literature at the University of Georgetown in Washington, placed Columbus as having come from Catalan-speaking Aragon. In The DNA of the Writings of Columbus, Irizarry’s linguistic analysis suggested that Columbus was descended from the Sephardic Jews in Spain. Their language was Ladino, a mix (usually) of Hebrew and Spanish. Irizarry identified use of Ladino by Columbus and implied that there was a variant - Ladino-Catalan. Sephardic Jews were to be found across Spain, but they were prominent in Aragon, Catalonia and Palma.
She argued that Columbus could speak Catalan before he could speak the language of the Spanish court that was to sponsor his journeys - that of the Catholic Kings, Isabel and Ferdinand.
As to the Genoa theory, an historian who has written extensively about Columbus having origins in Catalan-speaking eastern Spain, Francesc Albardaner, has argued that being Jewish and from Genoa would have been effectively impossible in the 15th century. "Jews could only spend three days at a time in Genoa by law at that time." There again, it is argued that Columbus concealed his Jewish origins; Jews were persecuted during the reign of the Catholic Kings.
Professor Lorente agrees that Columbus was almost certainly not from mainland Italy and that there is no solid evidence that he was from France (another possibility that has been studied). Francesc Albardaner's research suggests that Columbus was from a family of Jewish silk spinners in the Valencia region. Lorente believes that the most likely origin was the Spanish Mediterranean arc or the Balearic Islands.
Which leads us to the work of Mallorcan historian Gabriel Verd Martorell. His version maintains that Cristòfor Colom was born in Felanitx in 1460. The exact location was the finca of s’Alqueria Roja. His father was an Aragonese nobleman, the brother of Ferdinand, who was to marry Isabel. His mother was called Margarita Colom. Cristòfor was the bastard nephew of the Spanish king. This bloodline, unknown to others at the royal court, was to prove vital in giving Cristòfor the patronage to sail on his journeys.
The generally accepted version is that Christoffa Corombo was born in Genoa in 1451. His father was called Domenico. He was a lowly weaver who later became an innkeeper. Christoffa’s mother, Susanna, was also a weaver. Corombo rose from these humble origins to find a place at the Spanish court.